SINGAPORE

As a tropical rain pours down and floods the asphalt on Stanley Street, Singapore downtown, Laurence Odfjell continues to talk unperturbed at the small table under the awning outside Common Man Coffee Roasters.

It is obvious that the Chair of Norwegian chemical tanker Odfjell is a shipping enthusiast, although this was far from evident when he, rather unwillingly, took his first step into the industry after his father.

I’m 58. So, I don’t have too much time

Laurence Odfjell, Chair, Odfjell

He is eager to explain about a tanker vessel prototype which Odfjell has been deeply involved in developing over the last couple of years.

He wants to give a thorough introduction to all the green initiatives the company has adapted since 2016, and does not shy away from lashing out at peers in an industry most of all known for keeping lips tight.

And then he also addresses a topic which he knows is not urgent today but at the same time fully knows will become a wide-reaching item on his agenda, perhaps in the next few years.

That is, to appoint the future head of the family to ensure smooth sailing of the carrier going forward with the support of the next generation.

Three or four candidates

58-year-old Laurence Odfjell, who took up the position as Chair in 2010, is de-facto already thinking about succession, and the process of exposing the next generation to the business has begun, he explains in an interview with WPO.

Three, or perhaps even four, if his 10-year-old son is included, could have what it takes to become the person from the next generation to bring the family members together, bridge the differences of a sprawling dynasty with different opinions and the risk of conflicting interests.

Odfjell’s ownership

Norwegian Laurence Ward Odfjell (1965) is a member of the founding family of Odfjell. He holds a Master’s Degree in Architecture from Yale University.

Norchem AS, in which Laurence Ward Odfjell has controlling interest, owns 25,966,492 A-shares and 7,061,148 B-shares in Odfjell SE. In addition, he controls A/S Rederiet Odfjell which owns 3,497,472 A-shares in Odfjell SE.

He has been Chair of the Board since May 4, 2010.

Three of the family members of the next generation are already actively gaining exposure to Odfjell by learning hands-on what shipping, tank terminals and the chemical tanker markets are about.

Sabine, the oldest niece, sits in the Board of Rederiet Odfjell, the private family company in Bergen. Victoria, a younger sister of Sabine, is an observer in the board of Norchem, the majority shareholder company of Odfjell SE.

And Andreas, Carl Fredrik Odfjell’s son, has just completed a year in which he has been around the world in different offices working with shipping, finance and terminals.

”Any of a total of nine could potentially take over if they develop the interest and build up experience,” Laurence Odfjell explains.

But it requires one thing in particular to become the next family head.

Keep the family at peace

It is not just about skills and professional qualities. The family head must be able to maintain unity despite potential differences.

”We need to have somebody at the head of the family that can keep the family at peace and who has a long-term view on our business. We’ve been playing the long game for a long time. That is why we can harvest the market today,” he argues.

one of us is basically in control of the family shareholding

Laurence Odfjell, Chair, Odfjell

”The way we’ve structured the family ownership, is that one of us is basically in control of the family shareholding, but we share the – let’s say – wealth, or equity. So my father asked me to take control more than ten years ago.”

”I can’t go wild and venture outside our core business I need support in certain situations from some family members, but generally speaking, I’m in control. My biggest responsibility is to ensure that the company survives and that I can pass that control on to the next generation.”

When Stolt-Nielsen in March 2022 announced that it had crossed the 5% threshold and was obliged to go public as a new major shareholder in Odfjell, it was interpreted as the first step in what could become a take-over attempt or an attempt to merger the two Norwegian companies.

Back then, the role of the Chair and family head became evident, says Laurence Odfjell, who was taken by surprise by the announcement.

Although the family stocks are locked through a shareholder agreement ”it still can become a matter of what the next generation would want to do.”

At the end of the day, it comes down to picking one future Chair among nine heirs from the young generation, of which three are already exposed to the business.

”I don’t have much time”

Laurence Odfjell is conscious that a constant risk among family owners is the disagreement about the commercial course which often only increases with the growing number of family members as the years pass by.

Shipping is an industry where many companies are owned or dominated by families, who are often the founders of the company.

Norwegian Grieg is an example which in fact has inspired Laurence Odfjell on how to avoid conflicts through regular family meetings.

”My brother Carl Fredrik organizes a family event where we bring the next generation together. We have seminars, I present a little bit of what is going on, the energy transition, digitization and matters they care about. They care more about the planet than I did at the equivalent age,” he says.

He does not expect to hand over the reins of as Chair in the near future. But he recognizes that he is ”soon 60” and then 70, which he has set himself as a tentative deadline:

”That’s why the process has to launch. I’m 58. So, I don’t have too much time. After all, it took me ten years from my first entry into the family group of companies until I became Chair.”